Native to Zimbabwe, Botswana | Native speakers 950,000 (2000–2004) | |
Ethnicity Kalanga people
(formerly) Lemba Language family Niger–Congo
Atlantic–Congo
Benue–Congo
Southern
Bantu
Kalanga (S.10)
Kalanga Official language in Zimbabwe (both Kalanga and Nambya) ISO 639-3 Either:
kck – Kalanga
nmq – Nambya | ||
The Kalanga language, or Ikalanga, TjiKalanga, is a Bantu language spoken by the Kalanga people. It is known for its extensive phoneme inventory, which includes palatalized, velarized, aspirated, and breathy-voiced consonants. It is closely related to KheLobedu language spoken in northeastern South Africa.
Classification
Kalanga has the following dialects: Kalanga proper, Nambya (Nanzwa), Lilima (Tjililima, Humbe), Nyai (Rozvi), Lemba (Remba), Lembethu (Rembethu), Twamamba (Xwamamba), Pfumbi, Jaunda (Jawunda, Jahunda), and the extinct †Romwe, †Peri, †Talahundra (Talaunda).
References
Kalanga language Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA